History Madness

It's gonna be awesome, with a capital "A"

The top figures of the past 500 years of world history will compete for the championship. Who is the most "influential"? What does "influential" mean? That's what you will seek to evaluate as you make a 2-minute speech to advocate for your assigned person. Welcome to the Big Dance!

Hall of Fame Examples

Professional Example

1. Choose a subject

Check out the ﻿candidates.Do you want a famous top seed? Maybe you're interested in an underdog with potential for an upset. Maybe you'd like the challenge of coaching someone you've never heard of, priming you for a Cinderella run.​

3. Write a Biography

Each student must write a biography to persuade viewers of the significance of your person.Focus on "influential," not random details. Imagine this as a speech read by one person. You can turn it into a skit with multiple actors later if you want. Your biography must be around 250 words. You should be able to read this amount comfortably in 60-120 seconds.

[1] Find a location without distractions (like little brothers). However, pets are always a crowd-favorite.

[2] Make sure you are well lit and the audience can hear you.

[3] Move the camera/microphone close.

[4] Put a light behind the camera, shining light on the person's face.

[5] Turn your camera horizontally (wide).

4. Record a video

The purpose is to show your person's influence.

WRITE A SCRIPT. You could take the biography you wrote for part 3 and slightly modify it. Or you could create something completely new.

Your video can be recorded without any editing or special effects. If you would like to use special video editing and presentation skills, you can, but it is not required for a grade.

You can use any device: phone, webcam, camera, iPad, etc. If you and your partner do not have access to a device, contact the teacher.

Find a simple background, stand/sit in front of it and read/perform your script.

Follow the tips (on the left).

You can be as dramatic and emotional as you would like, but keep your content central to your video. The focus of this task is on the power of your written argument and spoken word, before your technology skills.

Videos outside the required range of 60-120 seconds will be disqualified.

7. Compete, vote & assess

With 64 entries, the field is deep. We will, during the course of a week, mixed in with our other current projects and assignments, watch the speeches and vote online to narrow the field to the Sweet 16. Grades will not be determined by whether you win or lose in the voting.

The first assessment for this project was based on how you completed your speech/video according to the instructions (with research). See your Google email account for personalized feedback.

8. Written reflection

Select at least four of the topics below. For each, write a response of 100-150 words with well-organized paragraphs and specific examples from the project. Your document should total 500-600 words. Use details from your notesheet. Save your file in your Google Drive world history folder.

Judge and explain which historical figures in the tournament were given too high a seed going in and should be lowered in the future.

Judge and explain which historical figures in the tournament were given too low a seed going in and should be raised in the future.

Judge and explain which historical figures in the tournament would have fared differently if parents would have done the voting.

Judge and explain which historical figures were left out of the tournament and should be included in the future.

Judge and explain who the four #1 seeds should be in next year's tournament.

Judge and explain how to make a winning video (advice for future students).

Judge and explain the most interesting things you learned about during this project.